Though the 90+ recipes were written my the "chef Maister Cokes" (chief Master Cooks) of Richard the 2nd, the introduction by the Rev. Samuel Pegge written in 1791 is an extraordinary lesson in the history of eating and cooking. Many of the recipes use saffron for coloring and flavouring. How, in 1390, did these cooks get saffron? Dr. Pegge answers that question plus the origins of how many of the exotic spices came to be used in England in the 14th century. The recipes are an entertaining puzzle. The cooks spelled their words as they sounded so the spellings are odd, but if you sound them aloud, it's like a game. I'm currently cooking my way through the book to see what ends up in the pot. This is really a fun book.